Wei Qu, Tenghui Jin, Kaizhou Huang, Xiang Zhou, Yuyan Wang, Zhuoyun Tang, J. Paul Chen
Metal-organic frameworks provide programmable platforms for designing heterogeneous catalysts with atomic precision. By serving as precursors for single-atom catalysts, they enable maximized metal utilization and finely tuned coordination environments that are highly effective for advanced oxidation processes targeting aqueous organic pollutants. This review evaluates three central strategies that govern catalytic performance: engineering coordinatively unsaturated metal centers, tailoring organic linkers to stabilize reactive sites, and exploiting hierarchical pore confinement to regulate mass transfer. Emerging synthesis methods, including heteroatom doping and atomization, are assessed for their capacities to improve stability and pathway selectivity. From the comparative analysis of recent studies, several key findings emerge: atomic dispersion allows efficient regulation of radical and non-radical oxidation channels, electronic modulation strengthens interfacial charge transfer, and pore confinement enhances both pollutant accessibility and resistance to deactivation. Beyond material design, the integration of computational modeling, experimental validation, and sustainability assessments-such as life cycle and techno-economic analysis-provides a holistic framework for bridging fundamental mechanisms with engineering feasibility. The review concludes by outlining remaining challenges in redox stability, scalability, and environmental robustness, offering guidance for the development of efficient, durable, and sustainable catalysts for next-generation water treatment technologies.